Sole pressing machine



NQVQ 7, 1939. EXLEY 2178.568

SOLE PRESSING MACHINE Original Filed May 28, 1956 3 Sheets-Sheet l 255 TBfil. 79

Nov. 7, 1939.

L. F. EXLEY 2,178,568

SOLE PRESSING MACHINE Original Filed May 28, 1936 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 //vVENTUR' i ff Nov. 7, 1939. 1.. F. EXLEY SOLE PRESSING MACHINE 3Sheets-Sheet 3 Original Filed May 28, 1936 //v VENTUR 0 Z Patented Nov.7, 1939 PTENT FWQE SOLE PRESSING T/IACHINE Jersey Qriginal applicationMay 28, 1936, Serial No.

Divided and this application March 28,

1938, Serial No. 198,397

9 Claims.

This invention relates to the manufacture of footwear and is hereinillustrated as embodied in a machine for laying or pressing soles uponthe bottoms of lasted shoes, the present application being a division ofapplication Serial No. 82,290, filed May 28, 1936.

Machines for performing this operation commonly comprise a support orjack for a lasted shoe upon which a sole has been properly located, apresser, and means for causing relative movement of approach between thejack and the presser to cause the sole to be pressed. firmly into place.In order to facilitate this operation there is provided in accordancewith one feature of the invention a carrier provided with a plurality ofjacks each comprising a toe-rest and means for engaging the rear portionof a lasted shoe, 9. presser, means for moving the carrierintermittently to bring jacks successively to rest in operative relationto the presser, and means for producing relative movement of approahbetween the presser and a jack thus brought to rest. In the illustratedmachine the carrier takes the form of a turret rotatabe intermittentlyin a horizontal plane and having mounted thereon a plurality of jackseach comprising a toe-rest, a last pin and means for gripping the rearportion of the shoe, the turret being rotated intermittently to bringthe lasted shoes to rest successively beneath a presser, said presserconsisting of a pressure box one wall of which is a flexible diaphragm.The

pressure box is moved down to force the diaphragm against the sole, andthen fluid is forced into the box to distend the diaphragm and to causeit to press the sole into place, after which fluid is permitted toescape from the box and the box is raised to initial position ready tooperate in the same manner on the next shoe. The machine is designedparticularly to press or lay an unvulcanized sole upon a shoe prior tovulcanization.

A loading operator places shoes, each with a sole properly located uponits bottom, successively upon the jacks as they reach the loadingstation; and, after the shoes have been operated upon, they are removedsuccessively preferably at another or other stations. With a machine ofthis type in which a carrier, such as a turret, brings a work supportinto operative relation to a member which operates upon the work, it isesirable that the movement of the carrier should be stopped if at anytime a piece of work fails to be placed upon the work support. To thisend, there is provided a carrier, means for moving the carrier, a worksupport mounted on the carrier, and means associated with the worksupport when empty for stopping the carrier when the work supportreaches a certain position. In the illustrated machine, in which aplurality of work supports are mounted on a rotating carrier, each worksupport has associated with it a member which normally projects into aposition to open a switch and thereby cut off the current to the motorwhich drives the turret. This switch is located near the loading stationin such position that, if the loading operator fails to place a shoe ona work support, the switch will be opened and the turret stopped. Assoon as a shoe is placed on the jack, the switch is closed and the motorstarts again.

It is desirable that the loading operator should not be obliged toexercise any great care in placing ever, the grippers are closed tostraighten the Shoe and hold it firmly.

In machines of the general type of the one shown, it is desirable thatthe operating member should not go through its operating movements isbrought to rest in position to be operated upon. A construction isprovided for accomplishing this result. In the illustrated machine, thesame members, each associated with a jack which acts when a jack isempty to cut off the current from the motor which drives the turret, areadapted, when an empty jack approaches the operating station, to operatea valve to cut off the supply of air to the pressure box operatingmechanism so that, when the empty jack comes to rest beneath thepressure box, the pressure box will remain in raised position, and nodistention of the diaphragm will take place.

Referring now to the accompanying drawings,

Fig. 1 is a front view partly in section and partly in elevation of amachine in which the present invention is embodied;

Fig. 2 is a detail principally in elevation showing the main air supplypipe and exhaust;

Fig. 3 is a vertical section on the line IIIIII of Fig. 1 showing themechanism for controlling the flow of air to and from the cylinder tolower and raise the pressure box;

Fig. 4 is a vertical section on the line IV-IV if for any reason a worksupport which is empty of Fig. 1 showing the mechanism for controllingthe flow of air into and out of the pressure box;

Fig. 5 is a view looking up upon the bottom of the pressure box;

Fig. 6 is a plan of a portion of the turret, the jacks and the automaticmechanism for bringing the turret to rest, certain parts having beenomitted and certain others shown in section;

Fig. 7 is a detail in perspective showing more particularly a part of ajack; and

Fig. 8 is a detail principally in elevation showing the switch which isopened when the operator fails to place a shoe on a jack at the loadingstation.

Before proceeding to a detailed description of the machine, a generaldescription of its mode of operation will be given. The purpose of themachine, as has been explained, is to lay or press soles of unvulcanizedrubber upon the bottoms of lasted shoes. The machine comprises anintermittently rotated turret I5 on which are located six equally spacedjacks or shoe supports indicated as a whole at A in Fig. 6 on which, asthey arrive one by one at a loading station B, an operator places lastedshoes bottom side up, each with an unvulcanized rub ber sole properlylocated on its bottom. The lasted shoes, together with the soles, may betaken by the loading operator from a bench C, the soles located on thebottoms of the shoes and the shoes placed on the jacks in the mannerdescribed above. The intermittent movements of the turret are eachone-sixth of a revolution; and between each intermittent movement thereis a pause of sufficient length to permit the sole 200 of a shoe I09(Fig. l) to be pressed into place. This pressing is done by a pressurebox I! the lower operative wall of which comprises a rubber diaphragm.When a lasted shoe is moved into position beneath the pressure box andbrought to rest, the pressure box is moved down so that the bottom ofthe shoe is pushed into the diaphragm, and compressed air is forced intothe pressure box to distend the diaphragm and wrap it about the lowerpart of the shoe. After the pressing of the sole has been completed, airis exhausted from the pressure box, the pressure box rises, and theturret makes another intermittent movement. An operator, or operators,at a station, or stations, on the other side of the machine from theloading station B, remove the shoes preparatory to the performance ofthe next operation upon them.

The hub of the turret l5 (Fig. l) is supported on a suitable bearingmember on an overhanging bracket 19 carried by the frame of the machineand is fast to an upright shaft '29 to which is also fast a largemutilated gear 2!, the mutilations being shown at 23, said gear beinglocated in the space between the upper and lower parts of the bracketl9. A driving pinion 24, which meshes with the large gear ill and has asmooth portion 25 to cooperate with the mutilated portions of the gear2|, is fast to a short vertical shaft 25 mounted in bearings in thebracket and having at its lower end a bevel gear 27, said last-namedgear meshing with a bevel gear 29 on one end of a horizontalcountershaft 3i near the other end of which is fastened a sprocketaround which and around a sprocket on a short horizontal shaft 33 passesa chain A worm gear 31 on the shaft 33 meshes with a worm 39 on theshaft of a motor 42. Thus, when the motor is running, the turret i5 isrotated intermittently in the manner which has been described above.

The six jacks or shoe supports A carried by the turret are all alike.Referring to Fig. 6 each jack comprises a toe-rest 43 for engaging thetoe portion of a shoe in the manner indicated in Fig. l, and twogrippers each comprising a rubber block 45 for engaging the sides of theshoe near the top thereof. Each toe-rest (Fig. 1) comprises a rubbercore 49 mounted upon a base 5! and a piece of leather extending over thecore and having its ends fastened to the base. The base is mounted onthe upper end of a stem 53 threaded into a slide 55 which is slidable ontwo spaced inclined guides 51 carried by a block 59 which is fast to theturret. Pivoted at G! to 2. lug on the upper end of the slide 55 is thelower forked end of a link 63, the upper forked end of which is pivotedat B5 to a sleeve 6'! through which is threaded a vertical adjustingscrew 69. The lower end of the screw 69 is rotatable in a socket in asleeve H which, together with the turret, is fastened to the shaft 29 byscrews one of which is shown at T; and the upper end of the screw 69 isrotatabiy mounted in a bearing member 13 supported by three curved bars15 fast at their upper ends to the bearing member I3 and at their lowerends to the turret. A hand wheel l! fast to the screw 69 is providedwith a handle 19. By grasping the handle 79 and turning the screw 69 thetoe-rests may be adjusted simultaneously in their inclined paths toprovide for shoes of different sizes and styles.

The grippers are normally held swung apart into open position to permitthe rear end of the top of a lasted shoe to be placed between them witha last pin (to be described later) in the last-pin hole of the last andthe toe portion of the shoe resting upon a toe-rest A. By the time theshoe reaches a position beneath the pressure box, the grippers have beenswung toward each other to straighten the shoe and to hold it firmly inplace as indicated in Fig. l. The grippers are in pairs, each one ofeach pair comprising a block of rubber 45 (Fig, '7), each block beingfast to a bar 83; which has integral with it two curved arms 85 the hubsof which are rotatably mounted on a rod 3! carried by two spaced earsformed on a base 89 which is fastened to the turret l5. Extendinginwardly toward the axis of the turret from each bar is a generallyconical bracket 9i having a threaded hole into which is threaded ashouldered screw 93, the portion of the stem of the screw between itshead and the beginning of the threads being smooth and cylindrical toextend loosely through a bore in the upper end of the sleeve member 95of an extension link, the other member of which is a rod 97 which isslidable through a bore in a cap 99 threaded on the sleeve member 95.The rod carries a collar HH, and between the collar and the bottom ofthe cap 99 is a compression spring I93. The rod 911s pivoted at itslower end at H15 in a slot in the hub of a T-shaped actuating member H31the cylindrical stem of which is vertically slidable in a bore in theturret. A torsion spring 198 having one end hooked over one of the arms85 and the other extended over the top of the base 89 normally holds thegripper in the position shown. The other gripper of the pair isidentical with the one which has just been described, there being shownin Fig. '7 the hub of one of its arms 85, the rod 8'1 on which the hubis rotatably mounted, and one end of its extensible link member 9?. Thegrippers are thus normally held swung apart as shown in Figs. 6 and 7 sothat a lasted shoe may be placed bottom side up between them. Justbefore the turret comes to rest with the shoe beneath the pressure boxin the position indicated in Fig. l, the T-shaped member lil'l is pulleddown to cause the grippers to straighten the shoe and grip it firmly,the extension links being extended somewhat according to the size of thelast. To accomplish this pulling down of the T-shaped member it], itsstem (Figure l) carries near its lower end two small rolls &3 whichengage and are pulled down by two stationary spaced cams Ill carried byangle irons H3 which are bolted to the frame.

Returning to Fig. 6, when the shoe is placed bottom side up with theupper portion of its forepart resting on the toe-rest 23 and its topnear the rear end extending down between the open grippers, the last-pinhole is caused to receive a last pin. This last pin, for a purposepresently to be described, consists of two parts (Fig. 7), a part H5integral with the base 89 and a part ill integral with a block Hillslidably mounted in a guideway in the base as and normally held in theposition shown by a compression spring llll. Extending into a recess inthe side of the block H9 is one end of a lever 923 pivoted at l25, theother end of said lever being located in a recess in a plunger 52?slidable in a guide H28 which is fast to the turret, said plungercarrying at its outer end an actuating member in the form of a roll i 29which projects beyond the periphery of the turret 15 when no shoe is onthe jack. This roll, when in the projecting position shown, operates oneor the other of two safety devices later to be described. As soon as alasted shoe is placed with the split last pin liil, ill in the last-pinhole, the part it? is moved toward the periphery of the turret, and theroll 52% is withdrawn into a position in which it no longer projectsbeyond the periphery of the turret. If it happens that a jack with noshoe upon it leaves the loading station, its roll i253 will beprojecting as shown in Fig. '7 and will operate a safety device to stopthe rotation of the turret, and if the device fails to operate the rollwill operate another safety device to prevent the pressure box frombeing operated. Ordinarily, with the turret rotating as indicated by thearrow in Fig. 6, a jack as it approaches the loading station B is empty,and its roll 529 is projecting beyond the periphery of the turret. Assoon as a shoe is placed on the turret the roll is withdrawn, and thejack proceeds to the operating station beneath the pressure box, thgrippers having been caused to grip the top of the shoe. After the shoepasses beyond the operating station, one of the receiving operators onthe other side of the machine from the loading station B removes theshoe, whereupon the roll E29 again projects beyond the periphery of theturret. It should be noted that the swinging grippers, when in theiropen position. at the loading station, permit the loading operator toplace a shoe quickly and somewhat carelessly on the jack since all hehas to do is see that the last pin of the jack enters the last pin holeof the last and that the toe portion of the shoe engages the toe-rest.The shoe be askew on the jack; but, as soon as the grippers close on theshoe, it is straightened on the jack and firmly gripped so that, whenthe pressure box descends to lay or press the sole, the shoe is inproper position to receive the pressure.

The pressure box (Figs. 1 and 5) has rigid side and top walls. Thebottom wall is a rubber diaphragm l3! (herein shown as comprising twolayers of rubber) fastened by its margin to the rim of the opening inthe bottom of the box by a metal gasket i135 and screws l33 which passthrough the gasket and are threaded into the rim of the box. In order toprevent ballooning of diaphragm about the sides of the shoe when thepressure box is brought down upon the shoe and the diaphragm isdistended, guard plates having in them openings of different sizes toaccommodate different sizes of shoes are provided said guard platesbeing readily removable and replaceable. In Fig. 5 there is shown one ofthese guard plates 13'! with its opening I39. This plate is providedalong one side and the two ends with a series of key-hole slots Ml, andalong the other side with open-ended slots Hi3. Projecting down from themetal gasket 135 are headed studs I45. In Fig. 5, which is a viewlooking up upon the underside of the pressure box, some of these studsare shown in cross-section. To remove the guard plate it? it isnecessary merely to slide it to the left and move it toward the observerand away from the box. To replace the plate the movements just describedare reversed. In order to ensure that the guard plate shall not be movedto the left accidentally, a fastening is provided in the form of a smallangle iron H ll, the lower horizontal arm of which extends beneath theguard plate 53? and the upwardly extending arm of which is fastened toone wall of the pressure box by a screw N49. The screw is withdrawn andthe angle iron removed whenever it is desired to remove and replace theplate.

The pressure box ll (Fig. l) is carried at the lower end of a heavy rodl5! which is vertically slidable in an overhanging arm of the frame, theupper end of said rod being threaded to receive a stop nut i525 theposition of which determines "1e extent of downward movement of thepressure box; and the box is prevented from turning by a guide-rod i553fast to the box and vertically slidable in the overhanging arm of theframe. Pivoted at E5? to the upper end of the screw threaded rod i5! isone end of a lever I59 supported near its middle by a link l5! pivotedat its upper end to the lever and at its lower end to a lug on theframe. The left-hand end of the lever is pivoted at its to the upper endof a piston rod H55 which carries at its lower end a piston Nil, thepacking its of which may be forced against the wall of the cylinder Illin which the piston travels by screwing down a nut H3, which is threadedon the piston rod, and thus, through a sleeve H5, pushing down a washerl'll. A locknut l8! holds the adjusting nut H3 firmly in position. Thecylinder 5?! is pivoted at I83 to two spaced ears on a bracket carriedby the frame, one of these ears being indicated at EN. The piston isoperated by compressed air from a source of supply which enters (Fig. 2)through a main supply pipe I85, pipe passing through a wall lBl of theframe of the machine and continuing to a T 589 (Fig. 1) inside theframe. Connected with that part of the pipe I35 (Fig. 2) which isoutside the frame is a pressure gage Isl; and located in the same partof the pipe H35 are two hand valves and an automatically operated valvethe casing of which is indicated at Hi3. This automatic valve isnormally held open by a weight H35 carried by a valve-control member [9i(see also Fig. 6) pivoted at I99 to a stationary bracket. When the partsare in the position shown, the stem ZEII of the valve is being held downin its open position by the weight I 95 against the action of a spring,not shown. Referring to Fig. 6, there is connected to the pipe 185 at apoint beyond the valve casing I93 a short exhaust pipe 203 in which isanother automatically operated valve the stem of which is indicated at205. This valve is urged up at all times into the closed position by aspring, not shown, and normally occupies this position. The purpose ofthese automatic valves is to cut off the supply of compressed air byclosing the valve 20I and to exhaust various pipes, later to bedescribed, by opening the valve 295 in the exhaust pipe 263 if at anytime an empty jack on the turret-that is a jack having no shoe uponitapproaches a position beneath the pressure box. If there is no shoe onsuch a jack, its roll I29 will project beyond the periphery of theturret; and, as the turret moves along, the roll will ride upon thevalve-control member I97 to rock it and thereby cause the valve in thesupply pipe 285 to close and the valve in the exhaust pipe 203 to open.As will later appear, the result will be that the pressure box I! willnot be moved down and no air will be forced into the box to distend thediaphragm.

Returning now to Fig. l the pipe E85 ends in the T I89. Here the currentof air divides. From the lower part of the T leads a pipe 29"! throughwhich air passes, through valves presently to be described, into theinterior of the pressure box, while from the upper end of the '5' a pipe2!!!! leads into the casing of a three-way valve 2! i. From the top ofthe casing 2H a pipe 2I3 leads to one end of a flexible tube 2I5, theother end of which is connected to a pipe 2!! which leads into the lowerend of the cylinder lll. Directly behind the pipe 253, as viewed in 1,another pipe .ZIG (Fig. 3) leads from the three-way valve casing 2IIinto the lower end of a flexible tube 22I (Fig. 1) the upper end ofwhich is connected with a pipe 223 which leads into the upper part ofthe cylinder Hi. In the position of parts shown a shoe HE, with a soleproperly located thereon, has come to rest beneath the pressure box andair has just begun to flow into the lower end of the cylinder. Air isflowing through the pipe 209, the three-way valve in the casing 2!! andthe flexible tube 2I5 into the lower end of the cylinder; and the airabove the cylinder is flowing out through the flexible tube 22 I,through the three-way valve casing 2H and through the exhaust opening225 (Fig. 3) in the bottom of the valve casing. The three-way valve maybe of any well-known construction, and consequently no detaileddescription of it will be given. Referring to Fig. 3, the stem of theoscillating member of this valve is indicated at 22?, said stem. beingclamped in the forked end of an arm 229, said arm being pivoted to theupper end of a link 23! the lower end of which is pivoted to the outerend of a lever 233 pivoted at its inner end at 235 to a bracket on theframe and carrying a roll 23? which runs in a suitably-shaped cam track239 formed in a cam 24! adjustably fastened to the countershaft 3I. Thevalve, as shown, occupies its extreme clockwise position in which thepipe 209 is connected to the pipe M3 to force air into the lower end ofthe cylinder H l, and the pipe 2! 9 is connected to the exhaust opening225 to permit air from above the piston I61 in the cylinder Hi to flowout through this opening. The valve will be held in this position for aninterval. The piston will therefore move up, and the pressure box I!will move down to cause the lower portion of the shoe I with its sole200 to be pushed somewhat through the opening I39 (Fig. in the guardplate. Air is forced into the pressure box and later allowed to escapetherefrom in a manner presently to be described. The pressure box isthen raised. This raising is accomplished (Fig. 3) by the swinging ofthe lever 233 to its down position. At this time the pipe 2I9 isconnected with the air supply pipe 209 to force air into the top of thecylinder III, and the pipe 2I3 (Fig. 3) is connected to the exhaustopening 225 to permit air from below the piston to flow out of thecylinder. The shape of the cam track 239 and its relation to thecountershaft SI and the lever 233 are such that when a shoe on a jack isbrought beneath the pressure box, the box is brought down to force thediaphragm against the sole 200 of the shoe and is held in that positionfor an interval, after which it rises again preparatory to being broughtdown upon another shoe.

While the diaphragm is in contact with the bottom. of the shoe, airunder pressure is forced into the pressure box to distend the diaphragmand wrap it about the lower portion of the shoe, and is then allowed toescape. Returning now to Fig. 1, it has been explained that the pipeI85, which leads from the source of supply of compressed air, ends atthe T 89 and that from the bottom or this T leads a pipe 252'! throughwhich air flows to the pressure box IT. The pipe leads into a valvecasing 247 having in it an automatically controlled valve. The pipe 201,beyond the valve casing 241, leads into an upwardly extending pipe 248(Fig. 1) which in turn leads up into a pressure control valve 253. Fromone side of this pressure control valve a pipe having in it a hand valve255 is connected to one end or" a flexible tube the other end of whichcommunicates with the interior of the pressure box. Extending from theleft-hand side of the pressure control valve 253 is an exhaust pipehaving a hand valve 258 which is normally kept closed but providesconvenient means whereby the pressure in the pressure box may be readilyrelieved at any time if desired. Leading from the interior of thepressure box I! is a flexible tube 259 connected to the upper end of anexhaust pipe 26L Referring now to Fig. 4, there is shown a portion ofthe pipe Flt! which conducts air through the valve casing 241 into thepressure box, the lower portion of the pipe 2d! through which air isexhausted from the pressure box, and two valves which are automaticallyoperated to control the inlet and outlet of air to and from the pressurebox. In the valve casing 261 is a valve the stem of which is indicatedat said valve being normally held down in its closed position by aspring, not shown, and being raised at the proper time to open it by apusher 255 pivoted at 263 to a rigid bracket 269 and carrying a roll 2Hadapted to be engaged at intervals by a cam 213 fast to the countershaft3! which acts to raise the roll 2H and thereby to open the valve andkeep it open for an interval. This allows compressed air to flow intothe pressure box H to inflate the diaphragm and press the sole intoplace on the bottom of the shoe. When the roll 2?! ri 185 down from offthe cam 2'13, the supply of compressed air is cut off from the pressurebox. In order to relieve the pressure in the pressure box, the exhaustpipe ZEI leads into a valve casing 215 containing a valve normally heldto the right in closed position by a spring, not shown, the projectingstem 2']? of this valve being engaged and pushed to the left at theproper times by a lever 279 pivoted at 28E to a rigid bracket 283 andcarrying a roll 23% adapted to be engaged by a cam 28'? adjustablymounted on the countershaft 3i, said cam acting to swing the lever 219to the left to put the exhaust pipe it! into communication with theexhaust opening 289 in the valve casing. This cam holds the valve 21'!in open position for an interval to exhaust the air from the pressurebox and then permits the valve to close. It will be noted that the airsupply cam 213 is adjustably fastened to a flange on a hub 293, which isadjustably fastened to the countershaft 3i by set screws, by screws 292(Fig. l) which pass through holes in the cam and may be threaded intoselected threaded holes 295 in the flange; and that the air exhaust cam28'! is similarly fastened to a flange on a hub 29'! (Fig. 1) by screws29B, said-hub being adjustably fastened to the countershaft 3! by setscrews Sill. It is thus possible to vary the time at which the detentionof the diaphragm begins and the time when the exhaust pipe is opened.Preferably, for pressing a sole on a tennis shoe, the distention willbegin just as the descending pressure box causes the diaphragm tocontact with the sole on the shoe, will reach its maximum (determined bythe setting of the pressure control valve 253) at about the time thepressure box reaches its lowest position and will be maintained at amaximum for a short interval, after which. the air supply to thepressure box will be out off, the exhaust pipe opened, and the pressurebox raised. It will be understood, however, that these details may bevaried somewhat according to the type of shoe being operated upon.

It has been stated above that if the operator at the loading station Bfails to place a shoe on a jack, the rotation of the turret will bestopped. This is accomplished by automatically cutting ofi electriccurrent to the motor; and, to this end, use is made of the rolls I29(Fig. 6) which, as has been explained, project beyond the periphery ofthe turret when there are no shoes on the jacks. A jack which isapproaching the loading station is normally empty, and its roll isprojecting beyond the periphery of the turret. At the loading station ashoe is normally placed on the jack, and the roll is thereby withdrawn.If no shoe is placed on the jack, the projecting roll I29 will shortlyencounter the rounded upper edge of a control member in the form of alever 34%! (Figs. 6 and 8) which is pivoted at 333 to a bracket 335,said bracket being carried by the bench C. lhe lever 34! carries at itslower end a contact memher 331; and a tension spring 339 normally holdsthe contact member 337 against a contact member 33!. The switch, brieflydescribed above, through a remote control magnetic switch, not shown, ofany suitable and well-known type, controls the flow of current to themotor 22, the switch herein shown being in the push-button circuit. Whenthis switch (Fig. 8) is opened, the current is cut ofi from the motorand the turret comes to rest and remains at rest until a shoe is placedon the jack, whereupon the roll are is withdrawn, the switch is closedand the motor begins its rotation once more. In the position of partsshown in Fig. 6, the motor is running, the turret is at rest during oneof its intermittent pauses, there is a shoe on the jack at the stationbeneath the pressure box, and the pressure box has begun to descend. Ifnow the loading operator fails to put a shoe on the jack at the loadingstation, the machine will function as usual until the roll E29 of thejack at the loading station swings the lever 3d! and opens the switch asshown in Fig. 8, whereupon the current to the motor will be cut ofi",the switch being so located that, when the turret comes to rest, thepressure box will be in raised position and the valves which admit airto the cylinder Hi and to the pressure box will be closed. The loadingoperator may now reach over the bench and place a shoe on the jack whichhas just passed that station whereupon the machine will once morefunction as usual. In case the automatic mechanism, which has beendescribed above, fails to operate, the roll i229 of the jack will rideup on the valve-control member l9? and shut on" the supply of compressedair so that the pressure box will not be moved down toward the emptyjack, and the diaphragm will not be distended.

The general organization of the sole-pressing machine, including aplurality of work supports which are moved successively into operativerelation to the sole-pressing mechanism, is not claimed herein, but isclaimed in the parent application identified above of which the presentapplication is a division.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A machine for automatically operating successively upon lasted shoeshaving, in combination, a carrier, a plurality of jacks carried thereby,said jacks comprising a plurality of adjustable toe-rests and aplurality of adjustable heelrests and a single member manipulation ofwhich adjusts the toe-rests with respect to the heelrests.

2. A machine for automatically operating successively upon lasted shoeshaving, in combination, a rotary carrier, a plurality of jacks carriedthereby, said jacks comprising a plurality of adjustable toe-rests and asingle member rotatably mounted on the carrier manipulation of whichadjusts the toe-rests with respect to the carrier.

3. A machine for automatically operating successively upon lasted shoeshaving, in combination, a carrier, a plurality of jacks carried thereby,said jacks comprising a plurality of toe-rests adjustable in paths whichare inclined inwardly and upwardly with respect to the carrier, and asingle member manipulation of which adjusts the toe-rests.

4. A machine for automatically operating successively upon lasted shoeshaving, in combination, a rotary turret, a plurality of jacks carriedthereby, said jacks comprising a plurality of guides inclined inwardlyand upwardly with respect to the plane of the path of rotation of theturret, a plurality of toe-rests slidable on the guides, a-memberadjustable in a path at an angle to the plane of the path of rotation ofthe turret, and a plurality of links connecting the toe-rests to theadjustable member.

5. A machine for automatically operating successively upon lasted shoeshaving, in combination, a rotary turret, a plurality of jacks carriedthereby, said jacks comprising a plurality of guides inclined inwardlyand upwardly with respect to the plane of the path of rotation of theturret, a plurality of toe-rests slidable on the guides, a threaded rodrotatably supported by the turret, a threaded sleeve on the rod, andlinks connecting the sleeve with the toe-rests.

6. A machine of the class described having, in

combination, a carrier, a plurality of jacks carried thereby, mechanismfor operating upon shoes carried by the jacks, means for moving thecarrier to bring the jacks successively into operative relation to theoperating mechanism, said jacks each comprising an adjustableshoe-engaging member, and a single member manipulation of which adjuststhe shoe-engaging members in unison. V n

7. A machine of the class described having, in combination, a carrier, aplurality of jacks carried thereby, mechanism for operating upon shoescarried by the jacks, means for moving the carrier to bring the jackssuccessively into operative relation to the operating mechanism, saidjacks each comprising a toe rest adjustable in a path which is inclinedupwardly and inwardly with respect to the carrier, and a single membermanipulation of which adjusts the toe rests in unison.

into operative relation to the operating mechanism, each jack comprisinga guide inclined upwardly and inwardly With respect to the plane of thepath of rotation of the turret'and a toe rest slidable on the guide, anadjusting member carried by the turret, and links connecting the toerests to the adjusting member whereby adjusting said member adjusts thetoe rests in unison.

9. A machine of the class described having, in combination, a rotaryturret, a plurality of jacks carried thereby, mechanism for operatingupon shoes carried by the jacks, and means for rotating the turret tobring the jacks successively into operative relation to the operatingmechanism, each jack comprising a guide inclined upwardly and inwardlywith respect to the plane of the path of rotation of the turret anda'toe rest slidable on the guide, a threaded rod carried by the turret,a sleeve threaded on the rod, and links connecting the sleeve with thetoe rests whereby rotating the rod adjusts the toe rests in unison.

LEO F. EXLEY.

